Wichita eagle., 1887-04-23
WEBSTER'S SPELLER.
EVOLUTION OF THE ONCE POPU-
LAR "SPELLING BOOK"

LAR "SPELLING BOOK"
Noah Webster's Great and Successful
Enterprise-The Fortunes of Con-
necticut School Teachers Work-The
Famous 'Selcct Fables
One Of the books much in vogue in the
colonies, Thomas Dilworth's New Guide to
the English Tongue" and when first pub
lished, about 174O, it was probably a great
improvement ON its predecessors, for it had
great run in both countries. To-day, In
glancing through it, it seems nearly worth
less; and this opinion Of it began to take
shape towards the end of the Revolution,
when Joel Barlow probably only expressed
public sentiment in complaining that lads
once lugged into it when young are afraid OF
all kinds of grammar all their days after"
At this time Noah Webster, fresh from Yale
college, was presented with an IS bill OF Con-
tinental currency worth about half that sum
in specie) by his father, and told that he must
strike out for himself. To Connecticut col
lege bred lad this was equivalent to saying,
Teach school," and teach he did, first IN
Hartford and then in Goshen, n. Y, and
from practical experience became convinced
of the worthlessness of Dilworth.
To native bred Yankee an error is some
thing to be corrected, and a poor piece OF
work something that needs improving. Web
ster set himself to the task Of reforming the
"New Guide"-a work of no maan proportion
with the lack of pathological knowledge In
this country at that time-and after two
years of hard study completed his revision,
when he Travelled through the states, ell
deavoring to obtain copyright laws in order
to protect his work. Returning to Hartford
with partial success, he next sought pub
Usher, but of course without success, so, with
the aid Of loan from Joel Barlow, he was
driven to the necessity of taking the whole
risk upon his own shoulders: and Hudson q
Goodwin, printers in Hartford, printed In
1874 5000 copies, taking from the author
bond to make good any deficiencies there
might be-
Webster had originally intended to call his
book ct American Instructor" but by the
advice DR.. Ezra Stiles, president Of Yale
college, lie title was changed to "A Gram
NAUTICAL Institute Of the English Language"
and nothing proves the real merit OF the work
SO strongly as the fact that for twenty years
it bore that title, and yet lived, though at
the end OF that period the name became THE
American Spelling Book" and still later, in
a revised form, 1.-THE Elementary Spelling
Book" The book proved q great success;
edition after edition was called for, and sup
planted nearly every book of its kind pub
lished in this country.
1t was the custom then for authors to sell to
the inters the right to print editions for a
certain number Of years, and accordingly
Webster sold his privilege to printers in Bos-
ton, Hartford, Albany, New York and Phila-
delphia, for transportation was then so diff
cult that none Of these printers could inter
fere with each others sales The copyright
was soon Of great value; In 17S5 the book was
selling at the rate of 500 week, and in 1900
the sales in a single state were 20, 600. For
years the author lived on the proceeds from
the speller, while many publishers were coin
ing money out Of it. In 1917, when the work
was revised. one printer gave him 5000 a
year for his term of copyright and another
SAC, 600 for the privilege of printing editions
for fo teen years. By 1918, 5000 900 copies
had been sold. and by 1S47, q, 900. 100, or an
average rate of nearly 400, 600 copies year,
and from this time on it is safe to estimate
the sales at million copies annually.
Each printer varied his editions in particu-
lars to please his own fancy. The Philadel-
phia printer "embellished" his with portrait
of the "Father Of his Country" and Mr..
Thomas, the great New England printer, not
to be outdone, ornamented his with q vile
wood cut of what purported to be "Noah
Webster, Jr, ESQ.," This wood engraving
and the absurd title of the book were made
fo,. IF tSfto ha y,oiptS IF Of 1,y
those at ennity with him. Mr. Grammatical
Institute" "Mr. institutional Genius" 'Mr.
Squire, Jr.," Were sofne Of the names applied
to him. and William Goblet went SO far as
to draw I'D n mock will in which he be-
Queathed him six Spanish milled dollars, to
be expended Oh new plate of his portrait at
the head OF his spelling book. that which
graces it at present being SO ugly that it
scales the children from their lessons; but
this legacy is to be paid him only on condition
that he leaves out the title of Squire at the
bottom of said picture, which is extremely
odious in an American school book, and must
inevitably tend to corrupt the political prin-
ciples Of the republican babies that behold
it,
To all who studied the spelier, the part that
probably made the greatest impression was
the Select Fables" These were an after
thought of the author, for they do not appear
in the earliest editions. How many have car
lied along, in after life, the moral lessons
taught by The Country Maid and Her Milk
Pail" THE Fox and the Swallow" THE Cat
and the Rat" The Fox and the Bramble,n
and many other equally sharp examples of
evil doing, which were probably quite as eff
cacious on the ethics as the corrections in
pronunciation were on the language of the
children.
The spelling book slowly underwent altera-
atoms. The printers discovered very soon
that the title was clumsy. and changed it to
"The American Spelling Book" The author
was constantly simplifying and improving,
for although soon occupied in his dictionary.
yet he always seemed to feel an especial in
teress in his first venture, and well he might,
for almost his whole support was derived
from the book. Others copied his ideas. hop
ing to obtain share Of the profits, and as
the century advanced the book was slowly
driven oot OF New England, the land of its
birth, by tie improvements III school books,
yet the sales increased steadily. and it found
refuge in the south and west, ana even tray
eled to England. IN revised form it helped
70 educate the Confederate youth during the
rebellion, and to-day It can still be found III
schools here and there throughout the
country
"Yes, We used to have n spasIn Of goodness
in the army every now and then" said an old
soldier yesterday. That is to say, the officers
would get good and try to make the rest of US
come up to their ideas. You see, when time
hung heavy on our hands we would while
away our leisure by an indulgence in the
wicked game of chuck-a-luck, or IN seven up,
or by an occasional poker game. remember